Guwahati | All Assam Students' Union (AASU) advisor Samujjal Bhattacharjya on Friday requested the Centre to ensure that no person enters India illegally from Bangladesh and that no one is granted asylum or rehabilitated in the Northeast.
"We are concerned about the situation in Bangladesh, given that four states in the Northeast share a 1,885-km border with the neighboring country. We want to ensure that the identity of the indigenous population is not further threatened," Bhattacharjya told reporters.
The North East Students' Organisation (NESO) has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah expressing concern as the region has borne the brunt of illegal infiltration from across the border in the past.
He said the student body has urged the Centre that the Northeast's border with Bangladesh be strictly manned to detect any attempts at illegal migration from across the border.
''The ongoing crisis in Bangladesh may lead to an exodus of its nationals into our country, especially in the Northeast. Past events indicate that whenever there is a civil war or a riot in Bangladesh, the region bears the brunt of mass illegal immigration'', he said.
He noted that Assam continues to face mass influx of illegal migrants, which led to a six-year-long Assam movement leading to the historic Assam Accord, which pledged to deport illegal Bangladeshi migrants from the state.
Similarly, Tripura, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh also had to face such threats to their population after migrants overwhelmed the indigenous communities in many pockets of their respective states, he added.
The region has experienced significant influxes in 1947, 1971, and subsequent years, which have threatened the indigenous population, leading to losses in land rights, tradition, and cultural and social identities, the AASU leader said.
He said the borders must be sealed completely, as a porous border poses a security threat, with fundamentalists and insurgents likely to exploit the situation.
"Therefore, we urge both the Centre and the state government to take strong measures to ensure that no one from Bangladesh can enter the region and that they are not given shelter or rehabilitation," Bhattacharjya added.